Judge squelches bid to overturn Illinois gun law

In documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Springfield,
attorneys for the Second Amendment Foundation asked for a review of
Judge Sue Myerscough’s ruling, in which she dismissed the
organization’s challenge of the state’s one-of-a-kind ban on
carrying concealed weapons.

In a 48-page decision issued Friday, Myerscough said the state’s
law barring citizens from legally carrying concealed firearms
doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution because the Supreme Court has
recognized the right to bear arms only within a home, not
outside.

“Plaintiffs argue that the Second Amendment protects a general
right to carry guns that includes a right to carry operable guns in
public,” Myerscough wrote. “However, neither the United States
Supreme Court nor any United States Court of Appeals has recognized
such a right.

“Further, the Supreme Court has not recognized a right to bear
firearms outside the home and has cautioned courts not to expand on
its limited holding.”

Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Bellevue,
Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation, said his group will take
its fight to the nation’s high court in hopes of clarifying the
law.

“The Second Amendment does not say the right to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed except outside your home or that it only
applies inside your house. We don’t check our constitutional rights
at the front door,” Gottlieb said in a release.

“We’re disappointed with the decision, and we are appealing,” said
attorney David Jensen, who represented Michael Moore of Champaign
in the case.

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The Illinois Attorney General’s office, which represented the state
in the case, did not immediately return messages.

Moore and others want state lawmakers or a court to bring the state
in line with the rest of the nation when it comes to carrying
weapons. His lawsuit is among at least two cases winding through
the federal legal system.

Last year, a concealed carry proposal fell six votes short of
moving out of the Illinois House. Supporters say they may ask for
another vote on the issue this spring.